China had always been on our bucket list due to its incredible history, architecture and the cuisine it offers. With only 10 days for this trip, we chose to experience the very best the country has to offer. And fulfil some of our personal wish-list items. The following itinerary covers the 4 jewels of China including one of the seven wonders of the World!
Some things to know before you plan a trip to China
- How to find your way: Google Maps does not work in China, even on a local sim or wifi. So do not forget to download offline maps before you get there. If you can use your home sim/internet (which would be costly) in China then everything would work seamlessly. Even Google Maps, Facebook, LinkedIn, and so on. Baidu Maps is the local version of Google maps but it does not have an English version!
- How to book domestic travel within China: One of our friends for China recommended Trip.com for internal flights and trains. It turned out to be a great resource (in English) for booking all our trips between cities. They have some great offers as well!
- How to get around in China: There is no Uber in China! Didi which is the local rideshare app is the most reliable. You can book and pay for it via the Alipay app. To overcome the language barrier they have a feature where you can take a photo of where you are standing and it worked pretty well for us without ever having to explain our location.
- How to talk to locals: Definitely have the Translate app handy or learn some basic Mandarin as hardly anyone speaks English. Even at some hotels and restaurants we had to translate to order food. Hence we decided to book tours with an English speaking guide for most of our excursions to show us around.
Jewels of China 1: Beijing
We spent 2.5 days in Beijing. This was the right amount of time to see all the highlights the city offers. And also gave us some time to explore on our own!
Summer Palace and Temple of Heaven
We arrived in Beijing around noon which gave us enough time to explore 2 of the sites on our own. You can book guided tours of the summer palace in advance here. However, we decided to venture out on our own on Day 1. Summer palace is a testament of classic Chinese architecture with large halls, quarters, gardens and temples. It is a great intro to the country and various dynasties over the years. The palace has been restored several times. But still provides great insights into its history, outstanding expression of art and invaluable cultural relics. For those reasons it is now a UNESCO world heritage site.
We took the east gate on Tongqing St and paid RMB 30 ($4) for entrance ticket. From this entrance you are greeted with an overbridge on a canal with houses on each side. You continue your way to the main palace on the hilltop and finally a view of the Kumming Lake. You can easily find your way with the well-marked directions and main spots in English.
We ended our day with a quick visit to the Temple of Heaven. It is an ancient complex where the emperors came in to offer prayers for a good harvest. The entrance ticket is CNY 15 ($2). It offers a stroll in the park surrounding the temple and amazing piece of ceiling architecture inside the main building. Temple of Heaven is a bit out of the way and south of most attractions in the city so I would recommend visiting here in the evening if you have time.
Great wall of China
The next day we set off for our highlight of the trip! To check off one more Wonders of the World from our list – the Great Wall of China (GWC)! We booked a tour on Get Your Guide for this excursion as we were not driving on this trip. With the language barrier we figured having an English speaking guide would be good to have! There are 2 main sections of GWC that are open for tourists: Badaling and Mutianyu. Badaling is the most famous (read crowded) one and the one that locals use most often. However, Mutianyu is more for tourists and has cable cars to go up as well. We decided to go to Mutianyu and were not disappointed at all! There are multiple things to check out here and your guide will provide the tickets in the bus based on your selection (on additional payment):
- Cable car going up and down
- Cable car going up and hike down
- Cable car going up and toboggan down
- Framed certificate with photo that you click on your excursion (send via WeChat)
There are 2 sections to visit. Take the 1st one which has the most beautiful tower and does not involve a lot of hike. And the 2nd section to see the vastness and beauty of this amazing man made masterpiece. There is a bit of hike in the 2nd one and a big steep climb at the end. But its the same way back for the cable car or toboggan so you can turn around whenever you like. We ended up going till the end of the section, had a beer at the top with vast views of the wall
Tiananmen Square
On our last day in the city we took a walking tour to explore the history and famous monuments in the city. We stayed in Inner Mongolia Grand Hotel which was a short walk to Tiananmen square where we started our tour. To visit the square and forbidden city I would strongly recommend to go with a guide. We booked it again on Get Your Guide. Guides have a different queue than the general public and gets you in quicker. This was undoubtedly the most crowded spot we saw on our entire trip! The tour starts with some history about the square. It was originally built as the ‘gateway’ to the palace (forbidden city). But in recent times is famous because Chairman Mao (founder of People’s Republic of China) proclaimed the founding of PRC here. His huge portrait is visible from some distance on the entrance gate.
The guide did not speak at all about the horrific incident of 1989 on Tiananmen square and with all the censorship in China we understood why. There are massive buildings on all sides of the square including the national museum and the mausoleum of Chairman Mao. Both of these have separate entrance tickets for visit later (the tour does not take you inside these).
Forbidden City
Next we proceeded towards the Forbidden City. The imperial palace for Ming and Qing dynasty emperors for 500 years. It was called Forbidden City as the general public was not allowed to enter. And was only meant for the ‘heavenly’ or the kings family! It was opened to the public after the collapse of imperialism in 1925. You enter through the Meridian Gate after massive lines for a security check and scanning your passport. The tickets are linked to your passport and no separate tickets are required. For the next hour or so we wandered through the various palaces, halls and courtyards. Our guide explained the unique architecture and stories of significance. The immense size of this historic palace and the luxury in which the emperors used to live in is quite unbelievable.
The tour ends on the other side (not Tiananmen square) of the Forbidden City. In front of the magnificent Jinshan Park. There are 2 options to pick from here: Jinshan Park or a 5 min walk to Beihai Park. The latter is an on a small island park connected by 2 walkway bridges. We decide to check out the Beihai Park. Our guide also recommended the Beijing Fangshan Restaurant to taste the famous Peking Duck from Beijing! The restaurant is inside the park and the entrance fee to the park is CNY 10 ($1.5).
Jewels of China 2: Xi’an
We always wanted to check out the bullet trains in China. And hence decided to take the train from Beijing to Xi’an. It is about 4 hours journey covering over 1000kms in that time! We noticed the highest speed went upto 350km/hr and is a super smooth ride! Trains in China can get crowded, so keep that in mind. And reach the station with some time to spare and avoid the last minute rush! Xi’ian is the city of the terra-cotta warriors which inspired the Jet Li and Brandon Fraser starrer movie – The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor!
Take a stroll inside the old city walls
We arrived in Xi’an in the afternoon and decided to take it easy and explore the city on foot. Make sure to book a hotel inside the old city walls. This would give you the best immersive experience of the oldest surviving city in China! We stayed in Jin Jiang West Capital International Hotel. It is a decent comfortable hotel close to all the action in the fortified old city. You can walk or bike on the city walls and check out the view of the city from that vantage point. After that we walked through the busy streets to get to the Old Xi’an mosque. This is the first mosque built in China! The tickets could be purchased at the entrance and is totally worth it! You get to see a super unique mixture of islamic traditions and Chinese architecture!
After exploring the old city we decided to check out the street/night market. The location is marked as Beiyuanmen on Google maps. Visit to this old city is incomplete without a visit to one of the bustling street markets. On display are bright lit shops with sweets & snacks, souvenirs and much more! If you are a adventurous foodie and eat meat, the options are endless in this part of the world!
Museum of Qin Terra-cotta Warriors
Next day was the highlight and the reason why we decided to come to Xi’an – Terra-cotta Warriors! The museum is a bit of a drive from the old city. I also read online that there are some guides who take you to a fake one and not the actual site! Hence, I decided to book a tour with one of the best reviewed on Get your Guide. We were picked up from our hotel and drove to the museum site. On the way you also stop at a terra cotta replica factory. Here you get to see how these statues were built at the time and also can buy some souvenirs.
The museum site itself is divided into 3 pits which were dug to find the remains of the terra cotta statues. You visit all of them on the tour with enough time to soak in the grandeur of what was built more than 2,000 years ago! It does get busy and crowded here so have patience and stick together!
Ancient China was divided into different kingdoms. And the first emperor who united all of them and became king was Qin Shi Huang. He decided to build a mausoleum for himself and immortalise his army that helped him achieve this feat. This is the story of these warriors made with terra cotta and buried for ages! Each of them has a different face and pose! Some are archers, acrobats, soldiers, generals, and the army is completed with horses and chariots. Altogether more than 7000 of these statues have already been unearthed. The work of digging and restoration is still going on in 2 pits which you would be able to see on your visit.
Giant Wild Goose Pagoda
On our way back we asked our guide to drop us at Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, just before sunset. We wanted to visit this for 2 reasons: check out one of the monumental Buddhist pagodas in China and also see the temple dedicated to Gautam Buddha. The entrance fee is CNY 30 ($4) and can be bought at the gate. You are greeted with grand courtyards of Chinese architectural brilliance and the Buddha temple right in front. There are temples around it dedicated to other deities and places to sit and meditate. We sat in one of those spots thinking about our day as the sun went down. You can also pay extra to go up the pagoda (7-8 stories). It offers a view of the city around sunset or just when the lights are coming up.
Jewels of China 3: Zhangjiajie
Next stop was the mighty ‘floating mountains’ from the movie Avatar! We took an internal flight from Xi’an to Zhangjiajie. We booked Sichuan airlines on trip.com which gave us a good deal on this short 1.5 hr flight. There is a train station in Zhangjiajie as well but none of the high speed trains pass through it due to the mountainous terrain. So you either have to take the normal trains in China (could be crowded) or take a flight. Spend at least 2 days in Zhangjiajie.
We arrived in the evening and had enough time to catch the Fox Fairy Show in the evening. It takes place in the backdrop of the Tianmen mountain and is an amazing spectacle of Chinese myth and folk love tale. We booked a tour with pick up and drop off. It gets very crowded at the venue with numerous buses coming in with hundreds of local tourists.
Zhangjiajie National Forest Park and Tianzi Mountain
On our first day we took the full day tour of the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park and Tianzi Mountain. It is an exhilarating tour with amazing things to experience and some breathtaking views along the way. We were picked up from our hotel in the morning after breakfast and drove straight to the national park. It was one of the most scenic roads that we had seen in China. From the entrance we went straight to the Bailong Elevator. This is glass elevator built onto the side of a cliff! Looks scary to be honest but is a fun ride on to the top – just in a few seconds.
Once on the top there are multiple ways to explore the park and numerous hiking routes. Some down in the valley along the river and some up the hill. We decided to take the Golden Whip Trail. It is moderate in effort and took us to the highlight of park (at least these days) – Hallelujah Mountain! It has obviously been renamed now after its depiction in the movie Avatar. Our guide mentioned that James Cameron actually never came to the park. It was only his team that were here for several days and the actual scenes were shot elsewhere! A trivia which I probably did not wanted to know that nothing was actually shot here.
Finally we took the cable car back down to experience a different way of descending from this mesmerising landscape. Our tour ended with one of the most authentic and mouth watering Chinese cuisine that I have ever had. We asked our guide for recommendations to eat and she gladly took us to one of the local favorites. We would never have experienced this place if not for her. She helped us order. And we celebrated the day with some Mijiu (Chinese fermented rice wine), very similar to Sake.
Zhangjiajie Glass bridge
Next day we started off with a 1 hr drive to the Zhangjiajie Glass Bridge. It is the longest and tallest glass bottomed bridge in the world! We asked our driver from the previous day for this and paid $100 for the trip. You can take a walk on the bridge and can also do a hike to the bottom of the gorge. If you are feeling adventurous you can also try bungee jumping. It is from a height of ~260 meters which is the highest bungee jumping in the world! It looked pretty scary to us! Hence, we decided to sip a coffee at the cafe overlooking the bridge as we saw some courageous souls taking the plunge!
Tianmen Mountain
On the return trip we asked our driver to drop us at the cable car entrance in the city to the famous Tianmen mountain or the Heaven’s Gate! There are 3 options to pick from:
- Line A which starts right in the center of the city is the longest and slowest way up and express line while coming down. Also, the most famous and crowded.
- Line B which is express line going up and slow cable car coming down into the city.
- Line C which is express both ways and does not take you over the city.
Line A and B are the same but as you are more excited going up, Line A offers amazing views and time to soak in the beauty of the landscape below. Also notice how big this city is actually – 1.5 million people live in Zhangjiajie! We experienced very foggy weather on the day we visited.. Hence we could not get a view of the famous 99 bend road from the cable car. So try to go up on a clear day if you have the option of staying longer.
Once at the top there are 2 hiking trails that take you around the mountain top, along the steep cliffs for some breathtaking views! You also notice how high these mountains are. You are actually walking on the side of the cliffs with glass bridge sections staring right into the deep valley! Both the trails would lead you to the last and final stop which is the ‘Stairs to Heaven‘. You have an option to descend by foot or take an escalator down (for extra payment). It leads you to the main square which has some food stalls, souvenir shops and restaurants. On a sunny day this would be a good spot to grab a beer and watch the sunset. Finally take the cable car express line and then a quick bus ride to get back into the city!
Jewels of China 4: Shanghai
A trip to China is incomplete without a visit to the most vibrant and modern city in the country: Shanghai! We again took an internal flight from Zhangjiajie airport to Pudong airport in Shangai. It is a 1.5 hr flight and we booked Juneyao Airlines via trip.com. The flight was delayed and the experience was not as good. So I would recommend booking Sichuan or China Eastern for this leg of the journey as well. Our hotel was in the centre of the city very close to Tianzifang – the former French concession area. It is almost an hour drive from the airport and costed about CNY 400 ($55) in a taxi. We would have booked Didi (and saved about $15-20) but came out of the wrong exit at the airport where only taxis were allowed!
Yu Garden
On our first day in the city we immersed ourselves in a mix of old Chinese history and the modern skyscrapers! That view of Shanghai has become iconic in recent times. We took a quick Didi ride from our hotel to Shanghai old street. Here you are welcomed with ancient pagoda style architecture and bustling shops along the street. From here we slowly made our way walking towards Yu Garden. You soon arrive at a massive Taoist temple which dates back to the 15th century. And from here move into the alleyway of shops and one of the most breathtaking views of ancient Chinese architecture. The final stop is the massive garden (built by the Ming dynasty) in the centre of this market. It boasts of massive pavilions, ponds and bridges including the Jiuqu Bridge leading to the Yu Garden.
Trivia: Ancient Chinese bridges were built in a zig zag way because of a belief in those times that ghosts don’t know how to turn! Hence the bridge would not let them enter the house/garden!
Post the visit to the garden we came back to the market for a quick snack & tea and some shopping! Since this was our last stop in China we went on to pick some of our local favourites. Chinese porcelain tea cups, variety of fresh and fruity teas and some old school Chinese wine! These wines had amazingly different flavours and came in very decorative bottles – we packed a couple to take back home as well.
Shanghai Skyline
From here we continued our walk towards the wharf to check out the amazing Shanghai skyline and the sunset. It is about a 10 min walk from Yu Garden to Jingling East Road Ferry. I would strongly recommend to take the ferry to see the Shanghai skyline after the sunset. Just when the city lights come on – it is a different experience! We bought the tickets at the ferry terminal and then boarded the ferry. It takes you through all the amazing buildings (both colonial and modern) as you cruise on the Huangpu River and take some memorable photos. Undoubtedly, Shanghai skyline is the most colourful and bright one that I have ever seen!
Zhujiajiao Water Town and the Bund
Next day we decided to take a half day tour to Zhujiajiao: an ancient water town about 45 mins from Shanghai. We booked a tour with an English speaking guide on Viator to explore this Venice like town in China! On arriving in this small town we went straight to one of the boats that was ready for us. It took us on a ride on the canal that runs right through the city with amazing Chinese architecture welcoming you on both sides. The boat takes you under several walking bridges, an experience I did not imagine to have in China!
Post the boat ride our guide took us to some of the highlights of the town. The old market along the canal, Yuanjin Buddhist Temple and a manor which belonged to one of the wealthiest man in the city. The house now called Kezhi Gardens has its own pavilions, bridges, gardens and ponds. It is a must see on visit to this town. At the end of the tour we stopped in one of the many restaurants overlooking the canal and the boats. The view and the authentic taste of Chinese cuisine were both amazing! It does not get better than this – having Chinese food in a small remote town in China – check!
Shows and Nightlife
Shanghai also offers a wide range of opera and acrobat shows which I would strongly recommend to check out. We decided to go for a acrobat show booked through Viator. We were mesmerised by the flexibility and athleticism of the performers on stage. One of the best things about these shows in China is the elaborate costumes and martial arts that is on display. It is hard to find anything similar in other parts of the world. Some taste of Chinese history and a lot of special effects and live music make it a truly unique spectacle!
In the evening we went back to check out the Shanghai skyline and celebrated our last night out in the country! We went to the Bund which is essentially the waterfront right across the Oriental Pearl TV Tower. It still has a lot of European influence. It used to house a lot of banks and offices in the colonial era and has mix of gothic and neoclassical architecture still preserved. Now these building house numerous restaurants and bars looking straight at the skyline across the river. We decided to do a bit of bar hoping before settling in for the night at Bar Rouge. It has one of the most amazing views of the bright night lights. Keep in mind they do shut off most of the lights at 11pm every night (10pm in winters). So make the most of it before that!
Read about our other adventures here!